23rd October

Well this ended up being a brilliant weekend of football...

LFC 2-1 WBA

There are days when you can rue missed chances. Where you can look at a narrow 2-1 win in a game in which you dominated, in which Liverpool were in total control and should have been 3-0, 4-0 up and off into the sunset and then managed to nearly implode, and say that that wasn't good enough. A two goal win would have sent Liverpool temporarily top of the league, but a late Gareth McAuley goal ruined that idea. And from a certain perspective, Liverpool squandered an opportunity to go top of the Premier League, and showed that they're not ready to be contenders with their trademark weakness and inability to defend set pieces. 

But to be frank, that perspective is nonsense, and this is not a weekend to be looking at the negatives. At the end of the day, any Liverpool fan who wouldn't have taken 2-1 and three points at 5:15pm on Saturday after Spurs and Arsenal both dropped points, with Chelsea and United playing each other today, is kidding themselves. As far as I'm concerned, this was a game that Liverpool simply had to win, and that was exactly what they did. To be level on points with league leaders Arsenal and Man City nine games in, and to be one of just two of the top seven to win this weekend is an exceptional result for Liverpool. 

So the game itself. Liverpool dominated from the first kick to the last, McAuley's goal from close range after a scrappy corner wasn't cleared aside. The reds got off to a great start and never let up the tempo from there. Emre Can started in midfield ahead of Wijnaldum and never looked out of place, helping Coutinho and Henderson to totally boss the midfield area, making gut busting runs and just generally influencing the play. Henderson, once again was totally faultless, with the highest passing accuracy of any Liverpool player who played a significant portion of the game and the most passes. 

But it was once again Coutinho who was the star of the show, showing a brilliant range of passing, dominating the game, always looking dangerous and producing two moments of class, including scoring the crucial second goal. His fellow front three both were also excellent, with Mane adding the first goal and playing a key role all day, and Firmino had a good day, although he missed a couple of big chances to add to Liverpool's tally in the second half. 

With Firmino and Lovren both denied brilliantly by Foster, Liverpool could easily have put in three or four before McAuley's smashed close range finish, but in terms of quality, the game was over inside thirty-five minutes, as Liverpool produced the two moments of magic to see the game won. The first goal was scored by Mane, but it was a beautiful team goal. A good pass into midfield by Milner, dummied brilliantly by Coutinho, picked up by Can. Can released Firmino on the left and a wonderful cross from Firmino was inch perfect to find Mane, whose excellent finish put Liverpool in front.

But the second goal was all about Coutinho. Firmino and Mane's excellent pressing freed up the little Brazilian inside the penalty area, but Coutinho sent two defenders the wrong way before thundering in a brilliant low driven finish. Week in week out Coutinho proves himself to be a class player and has been the Reds best player this season, this week yet more evidence of that. He is the game-changer that Liverpool need and with him propelling them, they'll feel that they can beat anyone this season. 

But what really impressed me, up until the calamity that was West Brom's goal, was Liverpool's defending today, particularly the seriously impressive Joel Matip, who looks an absolute steal on a free transfer. Matip has been strong, powerful and read the play well, as well as composed in possession, and on a weekend where expensive and high profile defenders have made critical errors, as Chris Smalling and John Stones were humiliated, Matip remained calm and composed throughout. Liverpool are yet to concede more than one goal in a game this season where he has started. And as I have pointed out about Dejan Lovren before, he looks much more secure next to a partner who knows how to defend. 

So overall, plenty of positives for Liverpool to take going forwards. But of course, the negatives remain. They missed plenty of guilt-edged chances to kill this game off, Firmino the worst offender and simply put going forward that's not something that can be allowed to continue. Moreover, the highly publicised set piece problem appears to be getting worse before it gets better and again, this is an alarming problem that has never appeared to improve even slightly over literally years of football. 

Nevertheless, despite a nervy ten minutes that in truth were more nervous due to the situation than anything tangible that West Brom created, given that West Brom produced very little of any quality all day, Liverpool won the game. They didn't go to the top of the table, but to be honest, that means very little. Does a 2-1 win in a game that we should have won by three or four feel a little wasteful and frustrating? Yeah sure it does, but ultimately, it's too early in the season to be panicking about goal difference, given that we're only two goals behind City and one behind Arsenal. 

In truth, the win itself is enough reason to celebrate, especially given the slew of results that went Liverpool's way on both Saturday and Sunday. Arsenal and Spurs were both very poor as they were held to goalless draws that they both could easily have lost. Everton wasted good chances as Burnley nicked a late winner to see them off 2-1, and then there's what happened in today's matches, which I will look at tomorrow.

But for now, twenty points off nine games, another win under the belt, and being level on points with the top two is more than good enough for me. There'll be periods later in the season when the psychological blows being struck will become greater. But for now, it's all about one thing. Winning, and it doesn't matter how you win. Although it does help when your team plays very, very well, as Liverpool did this weekend. 

The Hard and Fast Section

• Lewis Hamilton cut the gap by winning in Austin.
• England v Bangladesh is on the wire. Brilliant stuff. 
• Leicester beat Racing Metro. No. Really. 
• And Wasps snatched a thrilling draw with Toulouse.